In the very first season of Big Brother, when the housemates were finding the stress and challenge of being locking in a house with a bunch of crazy strangers and no contact with the outside world too much, they would chant together, “it’s only a game show, it’s only a game show” in an attempt to regain some perspective.
In the confinement of the Big Brother house, the intensity of the situation can often blow the smallest of things out of proportion: the fact that someone has eaten the last yoghurt can feel like the trigger for World War III. Of course in the cold light of day, away from the heat of the moment, and with a little distance, it seems laughable. But right then, right there, it’s powerful and all-consuming.
Work can have a very similar effect. We spend a lot of time at work: the average person will spend of at least 50% of their weekday hours (often more) at work, and it’s all too easy to become wrapped up in what you are doing. The challenge of the work lures you in and before you know it, you have such an intimate relationship with that spreadsheet that your positive intentions morph into obsession. The obsession takes away your perspective: you forget that when all is said and done, it’s just a job that you are being paid to do. And a job is ultimately just swapping your skills for money.
Now, don’t misunderstand me – caring about your work is a good thing. It motivates you to perform at your peak, and that’s good for everyone. But, when you become personally attached to your work it can make it difficult to accept change, and it disables your perspective-o-meter. It’s also ugly. There’s nothing worse than seeing someone who is so emotionally embroiled in their work that they lose all sense of what’s important, and fail to notice their social life, relationships and sense of self all slowly disintegrate…
So, remember, ‘It’s only work, it’s only work’. Keep a sense of perspective. Make sure that work is doing as much for you as you are for it. Otherwise you may find you’re the next one up for eviction…
The Small Print of Success by David Thompson is published by Marshall Cavendish on 24th May, and is available also as an e-book. David is the author of the best selling The Magic BlackBerry. Find out more about the author at www.beyondthedots.com.
David has been developing people in businesses for over two decades, gathering his experience in a number of sectors from retail to digital media to global financial services, within a number of successful organisations.
Based in the UK, he has also lived and worked in the USA, and after a number of years operating at Senior Vice President level in the world of global financial services, he founded Beyond the Dots in 2009. This boutique consultancy focuses on the people side of business and is the extension of the creative, engaging and practical approach that characterizes his bestselling books.